To think their is no housing crisis.

[AmazingAmy]

Instead their is a geographical jobs crisis, some nothern towns have streets of houses empty. Why because their is no jobs in many northern towns. London and other big towns are the only places of decent employment prospects.

However in London their is a housing crisis due to lack of building.

but do remeber all the fighting people do when massive projects are purposed to spread the economy around the rest of the uk eg the high speed railway which was designed to spread the economy to the other main cities of the UK but is massively opposed by southerners........

no doubt when the right to buy was introduced, those who could afford to decided to buy and why shouldn't they ? who wants to pay on going rent for something that will never be theirs. most of europe rents, we have a degree of snobbery about buying in this country and house prices are over infla i have a small mortgage to clear, but i feel for the people who struggle.

Ok, thanks Orlando, I thought it was sarcasm to make a point. I'll get my coat and go now.

Ah yes opposed by us southerners, because in reality it saves 20 minutes to the current serviceand will desimate towns, villages, lakes and nature reserves. It will also be so expensive to use barely anyone could afford it (as the company running it will need to make a profit). Let alone use it to commute.
Just in case you missed it, on a good day it will save 20 minutes
It's not a viable option, upgrading what we have, is.

Yy Damn the cost benefit doesn't really stack up. We went up from London to the Midlands on the train recently and it was an excellent fast service. It was a totally different service to our trip into London. I can't see what material difference all those billions will make. If it was going to revolutionise train travel it would be worth it.

I think OP might be right.
Just Like We have no school place crisis at all in my county.

yabu there quite clearly is. How can property be 'affordable' where there are no jobs? It might be cheaper than the SE but that doesnt make it affordable.

Part of the problem could be relieved if the current building stock was used. In the city near me there are loads of empty spaces above the shops - could be converted into great apartments and keep the city centre alive after 5pm. I guess there is some issue with security for the business premises below. But it seems such a waste of space. I assume it's the same in other cities around the country.

I think the OP makes a really good point. She's not dismissing that there is a crisis but more suggesting that there might be another way of looking at it and solving it. The current thinking seems to be "there aren't enough houses, build more in the south east" whereas the OP is saying "if there were more jobs available in the north we might make better use of the housing we have a available". I don't see it as a swipe at the North but highlighting the fact that our housing issues might be easier to solve if we made our economy less London-centric. It wouldn't mean we could stop building but I think it's wrong to ignore the local economies in the North.

I agree with you rooftop there are over 600000 empty homes in the uk

Really fuckthetaps where do you get that statistic?

BMW6, most of those are between tenants, or similar. Only 200,000 are 'long-term' (six months or more).

Given that we had net immigration of 300,000+ this year, it's an irrelevancy.

And if the (relatively few, to be frank) empty homes are not where people need them, then it's fairly irrelevant.

Hmmm........

There aren't enough jobs
There isn't enough housing

Eureka!

We have too many people!

I agree with fuzzywizard

More jobs outside the Southeast would help housing.

I want to know what happens when theyve shipped all the social housing to private rentals miles away. Surely it just pushes the prices up there too?

Actually I totally agree with you OP. My northern town has absolutely tons of homes for sale and to let. Hundreds and hundreds of the buggers! My street is short with only 9 houses. There are two for sale. One has been for sale or to let for around 8 months (3 bed terrace. Some redecoration needed but only 72,000). Other has been for sale for around 4 months. Every street I walk down seems to have loads of sales and letting signs up.

What FuzzyWizard said. Of course there's a crisis. The OP is, I think, suggesting that if we made there be jobs, social investment, community facilities and good schools in the areas where there are cheap empty houses then that would take the pressure off the south east a bit. However - what is the quality and state of repair of these cheap empty houses? And would they become significantly more expensive if that investment in local jobs and community happened such that it wouldn't actually relieve the pressure?

If you built more homes up North and there were more jobs - would that solve the housing crisis in the South East?

People live where they want to live. People go where the jobs are - and especially if certain areas are better for their profession.

but only 72k

But if you earn minimum wage and work 35 hours a week isn't that about 7Ã? your wages? So it isn't affordable necessarily.

FuzzyWizard: "I don't see it as a swipe at the North but highlighting the fact that our housing issues might be easier to solve if we made our economy less London-centric."

I agree. Obviously that is quite hard, though. Until the 1980s, there was a lot of work in the big northern cities - Newcastle, Liverpool etc - because they had local industries such as steel, shipbuilding, etc. When those industries were closed down by She Who Must Not Be Named, then our economy became one focused largely on financial services, whose natural centre was the capital. Until you find a way of revitalising those cities outside London, then more and more people will flock to the capital for work, and the housing shortage in London and the south east will get worse and worse.

A few years ago my father died. He lived in an unfashionable, economically depressed part of the country and it took us more than a year to sell his three-bed terrace house for a price that wouldn't buy a broom cupboard in London. (And I mean that literally.)

Tobysmum. That is a minimum wage issue, not a housing crisis. Also I'd imagine most people buy houses in a relationship so would hopefully have two wages.

In my hometown on a large council estate there are rows and rows of derelict and vandalised houses that would make great family homes but are currently uninhabitable. The council won't pay to do them up, housing associations won't touch them and no one will buy them. So they just sit there and meanwhile the waiting list for council properties and homeless families is growing all the time.
The council there are very good at demolishing blocks of flats but not so good at building new homes. They're not much better where we live now.

We rent privately now and every time we look to move the rent prices have shot through the roof. I really don't see how it's proportionate or affordable and we would be better off paying a mortgage but then there's the teeny tiny problem of having a deposit saved, which we are currently unable to do.

So yes, I think there really is a housing crisis, from my point of view anyway. We will never get a council house as we are not a high priority, we are paying rent we can barely afford and can't currently get a mortgage. So were just stuck, hoping that the landlord won't put the rent up any more than he has done. I am just grateful that I have a roof over my head to be honest.

No mint it is both. There is no issue with the level of minimum wage if the cost of living was lower. Not everyone is in a relationship, where do they live?

Damnautocorrect - you are indeed correct, social cleansing is alive and well with the Tory government.

Not everyone is in a relationship, where do they live

In all those affordable 1 /2 bedroom houses / flats that are out there and affordable for people on one wage.

Hang on a moment...what's wrong with that statement?